e-book

Just one day after Apple was charged by the U.S. Department of Justice with artificially inflating e-book prices, a report out of Australia says competition watchdogs in that country are considering doing the same.

The Australia Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has asked local retailers who are concerned about e-book pricing to formally file a complaint with its office, according to The Australian Financial Review. The move could prove to be a precursor to a full investigation of Apple's e-book practices.

"Competition concerns may arise where traders seek to restrict the discounting of products by way of … Read more

Links from Wednesday's episode of Loaded:

Alongside a federal lawsuit aimed at Apple and book publishers for allegedly colluding to fix e-book prices, 16 state attorneys general in the U.S. today filed a lawsuit against three publishers and Apple.

The complaint, which was filed in the District Court for the Western District of Texas, takes aim at the Penguin Group, Simon & Schuster, Macmillan, and Apple, and claims that the four companies worked together to raise prices on e-books, resulting in e-book buyers overpaying by some $100 million. (Disclosure: Simon & Schuster is owned by CBS, which also owns CNET.)

Unlike the federal suit on … Read more

Apple is under federal investigation for allegedly colluding to fix e-book prices with book publishers.

Amazon is delighted...with the prospect of being enabled to once again lower prices.

"[The settlement] is a big win for Kindle owners," Amazon said in a statement. "We look forward to being allowed to lower prices on more Kindle books."

The U.S. Department of Justice filed an antitrust suit against Apple and several book publishers. The DOJ alleges that Apple and the publishers colluded in 2010 to fix e-book prices. Apple denies the allegations and has chosen to defend … Read more

In 2010, Apple enabled some of the top book publishers to set their own prices for electronic books they made available on the iPad.

Since then, prices that consumers pay for e-books have risen and Amazon and other online book sellers that discount have been under pressure. The government said today in an antitrust complaint filed in New York, that the arrangement Apple struck with publishers Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin, and Simon & Schuster was an attempt to control prices and violated the law.

The case could hurt Apple's position in the e-book market, a sector that is growing … Read more

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Apple and several book publishers this morning, claiming that they worked together to artificially prop up prices for e-books.

The publishers sued were Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin, and Simon & Schuster. The suit (posted below) was filed in a district court in New York.

"Apple facilitated the publisher defendants' collective effort to end retail price competition by coordinating their transition to an agency model across all retailers," according to the complaint.

Apple and Macmillan haven't engaged in settlement talks with the Justice Department, Bloomberg reported. The companies … Read more

The U.S. Department of Justice may file an antitrust lawsuit against Apple for alleged e-book price fixing as early as tomorrow, according to Reuters.

Apple had reportedly been in talks with federal regulators but had failed to come to an agreement to settle their concerns. Along with Apple, five book publishers are also reportedly under investigation for alleged price fixing: HarperCollins Publishers, Hachette Book Group, Macmillan Publishers, Penguin Group, and Simon & Schuster. (CBS owns Simon & Schuster and CBS Interactive, which publishes CNET News.)

Apple representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Justice Department … Read more

This is an update of a deal from a couple months ago.

I love e-books. Always have, always will. My first "e-reader" was a PalmPilot. These days, I read on whatever device is handy: Nook Color, Kindle Fire, and iPhone.

What I find truly incredible is how affordable dedicated e-readers have become. Remember when the original Kindle was $359 -- and Amazon couldn't keep up with the orders?

Anyway, while supplies last, RedTag has the refurbished Barnes & Noble Nook Simple Touch Reader for $69, plus $1.95 for shipping. That's an insanely good deal.

Update: … Read more

While e-books are steadily gaining in popularity with the reading public, an overabundance of devices and formats keeps the lid on. The market will probably sort out the competition the way it always does, but until then, your options are to limit your reading to titles available for your reader, or convert e-books into a format your reader supports. That's where Hamster Free Book Converter enters the story. This simple, free tool lets you drag and drop or add e-book titles in a wide range of formats and either choose your device or file type to automatically convert them … Read more